Spinning Nation 2011 - Are You On Board?

I got an email today asking if my facility is hosting the Spinning Nation 2011 2-Hour Ride on Saturday, February 26th. I knew we weren?t but had to think about my reply. It looked bad.
?Actually we?re not. In fact, we have a Spinning® Workshop scheduled for that day. Our members participate in a lot of fundraisers and it just seems too much to ask. We have, in the past, loaned our Spinners® to a nearby facility for this event, we just turned down a 3-hour ride for another charitable organization, we will do a ride for the local hospital in May, and many of us are committed to our team for the Vermont Special Olympics 6-Hour Ride in March. That?s all we can do.?
OK, how lame does that look? We are a recognized ?official? Spinning® Facility with a dedicated staff ? all certified, of course ? utilizing Spinners® as mandated and scrupulously following the training practices and classes we know. And, we?re not holding a Spinning Nation 2011 Ride? It still looks bad.
I remember my first ever event. It was, you guessed it, a Spinning Nation 2-Hour Ride two years ago. I was new to everything. In December, following some pretty big surgery, I was allowed one minute on my bike with no resistance. (Believe it or not, as serendipity or just plain good luck would have it, I owned a Spinner® but had never been on it. It was a gift from the heavens for my rehab and the beginning of a love affair ? but that?s for another blog post.) From there I increased and increased ? time, intensity, and training. I bought DVDs and rode with the Masters. My daughter was participating in a Spinning Nation 2-Hour Ride at her college and invited me to come watch. Excuse me? Watch?
Bottom line: I did the entire ride. The next day I was PUMPED. (My daughter and step-daughter were pooped.) Three months later I became a certified Spinning® Instructor. I did so to better support my staff as I am a director at our business. I was adamant that I would never teach. YaDaYaDa. I now regularly teach 4 classes a week minimum from 45 ? 75 minutes, run 1-2 concurrent 8 Week Weight Loss Programs, teach a monthly Introduction to Spinning® Classes, include notes about Spinning® classes in my work as a journalist, blog for this Spinning® community, am Star 3 certified, etc. etc.
Attending my first Spinning Nation was truly life-altering for me. It gave me the courage to step out of my self-imposed limitations and seek new careers, friends, goals and experiences. I rode outdoors for the first time last summer and completed my first metric Century on a very hard, hilly course. I then completed my first full Century in the fall and could have ridden another 2 hours at the conclusion. I am already committed to repeat the 6-Hour ride mentioned above and have signed up for back to back Centuries this summer. I am not unusual. I am not even talented. I am simply persistent. (And, did I mention that I am also a grandmother?)
As I said, attending my first Spinning Nation 2-Hour Ride was life-altering. It is what planted the seed. I left that auditorium both spent and enriched. I had found something that I needed, wanted and would thrive upon.
You?d better believe that I have already written Spinning Nation into my calendar for 2012. When I next receive an email asking about it, my answer will be ?Yes! We?re all set! Come and join us! It?s for a worthy cause, to be sure.?
Blog posted by Linda Freeman for www.spinning.com 1-31-2011.